League of Fans, BetterDeal4DC to DC Council: Reject ‘revised’ stadium lease
The revised baseball stadium draft lease agreed to Friday by D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams appears to give away even more city assets, still fails to provide for a true cap on stadium costs, still fails to legally specify who will pay for cost overruns, fails to provide for possibly shifting the stadium from South Capitol to a far less-expensive RFK Stadium site, and should be rejected immediately if a vote is taken by the Council, a citizens’ coalition said today.
“By not specifically addressing the cost overruns in a legally binding manner as Chairman Cropp herself demanded, the deal is still deficient and must be refused by the Council,” said David Mallof, a longtime D.C. resident who recently testified before the Council on the stadium deal’s failure to share the financial risks and rewards in a congruent manner.
BetterDeal4DC, a coalition of individuals and organizations opposed to public financing of a stadium, said the revised draft lease appears in certain respects to be even worse than the previous draft lease. According to news accounts, the revised draft lease — which has not yet been released to the public — expands the giveaway of public assets to Major League Baseball (MLB) by including a provision for the city to split with the team the proceeds of land sold for development at the south end of the stadium (57.5% for the city, and 42.5% for the team).
“By splitting these proceeds, Major League Baseball is taking more public assets and yet is bringing no more money to the deal to cover the incredible spiraling, out-of-control costs for a stadium at the South Capitol site,” said John Capozzi, former chairperson of the Barney Circle Neighborhood Association.
BetterDeal4DC said it could not see how city negotiators, after allowing MLB to receive virtually all of the revenue generated from the stadium, could then agree to split with MLB the added proceeds from land south of the stadium that will be expropriated by eminent domain and then subsequently sold to private interests for development. Likewise, the organization said the Mayor must explain why there is still no requirement that MLB and/or the new (yet-to-be-named) team owner pay for any cost overruns on the project, as has been customary in most recent stadium projects.
BetterDeal4DC said it appears from the marginal changes reportedly made to the draft lease that no serious negotiating on key issues went on between the city and Major League Baseball from the time Williams pulled the initial draft lease from Council consideration in late December until now. The baseball deal continues to be the biggest financial giveaway of a professional sports facility that any city has ever negotiated for the exclusive use of one team.
The organization said the Council should tell the Mayor to remove his current negotiating team and insist upon the original terms of the baseball agreement which caps the city’s all-inclusive contribution of public financing at $535 million — including costs of land acquisition, environmental remediation, parking, roads, Metro and other infrastructure improvements. Any further negotiations with MLB must include Councilmembers critical of the draft lease as ex-officio members of the city’s negotiating team, BetterDeal4DC said.
“The Mayor may well have wasted critical time this past month by drumming up what appears to be a six-figure, feel-good public relations campaign to sell a weak stadium deal to the public. He surely wasted time by unethically sponsoring a campaign fundraiser for Councilmember Kathleen Patterson together with the main local lobbyist for Major League Baseball while a vote on the stadium draft lease is imminent,” said Mallof.
BetterDeal4DC said the lease should contain the same major provision as the $535 million stadium financing package, approved by the Council in December 2004, that would permit the city to shift the stadium to an RFK site.
“RFK has the infrastructure, adequate Metro, ample parking, no land acquisition costs, no legal actions over land acquisition that could tie up the site for months or years, and already known environmental issues,” said Shawn McCarthy, director of the sports watchdog group League of Fans. “This is in stark contrast to the far more expensive South Capitol site with its lack of infrastructure, inadequate Metro facilities, lack of parking, rising land acquisition costs that could go even higher with court decisions favoring landowners, and unknown environmental issues.”
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Take Action!
Contact the following key DC Councilmembers and urge them to Vote to reject the new draft lease:
Kwame Brown, 724-8174, [email protected]
Vincent Gray, 724-8068, [email protected]
Carol Schwartz, 724-8105, [email protected]
Phil Mendelson, 724-8064, [email protected]
Sports Forum Podcast
Episode #22 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Rethinking Sports Fandom with Author Craig Calcaterra – We discuss Calcaterra’s new book “Rethinking Fandom: How to Beat the Sports-Industrial Complex at Its Own Game” and explore new ways to be a fan in the year 2022.
Listen on Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Anchor and others.
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More Episodes on Apple Podcasts; Spotify; Google Podcasts; PocketCasts; & Anchor
Episode #21 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Chatting About a Broken Game With Baseball Writer Pedro Moura – Moura is a national baseball writer for Fox Sports. We discuss how and why the game of baseball is broken, what factors caused it, and offer a few thoughts on how to “fix” a great game.
Episode #20 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Coaching Youth and High School Sports Based On What’s Best for the Athlete’s Holistic Development – We chat with long-time youth, high school and college basketball coach Jim Huber.
Episode #19 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Capturing the Spirit of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League with Anika Orrock – We discuss the hoops AAGPFL women had to jump through to play the game they loved as well as the long-term impact and legacy they have in advancing sports opportunities for girls and women.
Episode #18 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Talking about the 50th Anniversary of Title IX and the Lia Thomas Controversy with Nancy Hogshead-Makar – Hogshead-Makar is a triple gold medalist in swimming, a civil rights attorney and CEO of Champion Women.
Episode #17 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Talking Sports With Legendary New York Times Sports Columnist Robert Lipsyte – We chat about Lipsyte’s amazing career and some of the athletes he covered.
Media
"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- League of Fans Sports Policy Director Ken Reed quoted in Washington Post column titled "What happened to P.E.? It’s losing ground in our push for academic improvement," by Jay Mathews
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
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